Puppyshipping
by GirlWhoHasNoName
Summary: Puppyshipping oneshots, aiming for ten, but depending on reviews it could turn to more. Rated M to be safe for future chapters, true ratings for each oneshot will be listed in each chapter. Just for fun.
1. ClawKing

Ehehehe... I looked through my list of incomplete stories and thought, what the heck, I'll just add another one to be completed... One involving a main pair I haven't written about already... Seto/Joey yay! Lol.

Supposed to be a oneshot series all concerning Puppyshipping. Enjoy! The more reviews I get, the more oneshots I write.

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**Rated: K**

**CHAPTER 1 - THE CLAW-KING**

"Puppy, what are you doing?" Seto raised an eyebrow at Joey's bent over position, his behind swishing through the air as the young man struggled, causing more eyebrows from passers-by to follow Seto's example.

"Wadya think I'm doin'?" came the irritated reply, though the swishing motions visibly lessened a little.

"Making a fool of yourself… and me." When no reply came, Seto sighed and leaned against the outside wall of the supermarket. He honestly hated these rare occasions when Joey turned incredibly stubborn, and knowing the blonde as well as he did, getting him to turn away when he was this determined was damn near impossible.

"Come on, ya stupid piece of metal! Spit. It. out!" with a frustrated growl Joey got up from his bent over position and kicked at the base of the claw crane machine, the hollow sound of protest the only answer the irked blonde got for his effort.

With another growl, Joey pressed his nose against the glass barrier; the pink teddy bear was still dangling between falling towards the exit and falling back in with the other stuffed toys. He spent all his change in attempt for that bear his sister so desperately wanted, playing the simulator over and over again for the last hour as Seto went about buying groceries. Now, when he finally caught it, he accidentally pressed the release button too soon, causing the bear to end up in its current position.

Joey groaned and bumped his forehead against the glass, an action that did not go unnoticed.

"Puppy, forget about that stuffed thing in there. I can buy your sister her heart's desire inside the store itself." Seto tried to console his puppy, but the lightning that suddenly flashed in those honey brown eyes made him realize that he had just said the wrong thing.

Shit.

"Seto, give me one of the pennies ya owe me."

"Puppy, I-"

"NOW, Seto!"

In defeat, Seto complied and produced the asked for object, placing it in Joey's hands as said blonde continued his staring contest with the bear. Without blinking, Joey slipped the penny into the slot, the ear piercing song of the machine starting up again for what felt about the millionth time.

With tongue subconsciously protruding from his lips in concentration, Joey slowly eased the metal pincher towards its fluffy victim and cried out in victory when it hit the target dead on. Seto kept his face as stoic as possible, waiting for the inevitable to happen… and ready to hide when it did.

"Come on, come on…" Joey encouraged the steal claw as it began lifting the pink bear by the hind leg. "That's it… slowly… slowly…" Unbeknownst to Joey, sweat began forming on his brow in anticipation; even Seto had to admit he was hoping with bated breath that this would be it.

Just as the bear began to defy the pull of gravity, the leg slipped through the claw, making it fall back into basically the same position it held before.

Silence.

Seto's expression grew into one of worry at Joey's frozen posture with eyes staring unblinkingly at the machine. If he didn't know any better, he would say Joey was about to-

"GAH! I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS!" Joey confirmed Seto's suspicions, yet even though Joey reacted exactly as the CEO expected, he couldn't help his startled jerk at the sudden outburst. "I had that bear! I had it! It was supposed t' be mine!"

"Joey, I can get her-"

"I know ya can, Seto, but I don't want YOU to be the one who got it!" At those words, Seto had to fight hard not to let his mouth drop open. Why on earth would he not want him to get it for his sister, but fight a whole damn hour for it on an obviously cheating machine? Wasn't he, Seto Kaiba, supposed to take care of his lover financially?

"Puppy, I don't understand why-"

"Of course you don't!" Seto blinked twice as he noticed tears of anger building in Joey's eyes. He felt as though he had to do something, anything, but nothing came to mind.

"Ya won't understand until ya lived as I have!" Seto only blinked again, causing Joey to growl in frustration. "Argh! Just, just forget it!" He stormed passed the dumbfounded CEO and into the men's restroom, unknowingly leaving behind a very confused Seto Kaiba.

The CEO raked his fingers through his hair before leaning against the wall with his back. He didn't quite understand what all this was about. Joey knew that he never denied him anything and that money wasn't an issue so… wait …

Money wasn't an issue…

Or was it?

Oh.

_Oh_…

Of course.

Seto felt like slapping himself - how could he have been so blind?

Of course Joey knew he didn't mind giving him the money. The fact was he didn't _want_ it, because he wanted to do this for his sister on his own. Joey grew up extremely poor, and with him reminding Joey about his wealth and how he could just buy the ridiculously priced stuffed animal without breaking a sweat just rubbed salt into the tender wound that was Joey's low self-esteem.

Seto closed his eyes for a few seconds, thinking what the best way would be to apologize to his pup, only to open them as something better came to mind.

Moving away from the wall, he headed directly towards the supermarket again.

He would help his pup get his sense of self-worth back, even if it cost him half his yearly income.

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Joey came out of the restroom feeling rather guilty and silly for his outbreak earlier. Seto was only trying to help and he snapped at him as though it was his fault he was poor. He just hoped his apology would be accepted…

He swallowed hard as the form of his lover came around the corner and he neared Seto cautiously, not quite certain just exactly how angry the man was right now. To his surprise however, the blue eyes didn't come over as cold, but rather endearing. Pushing the thought away as wishful thinking, he stopped right in his lover's path.

"Seto…" he swallowed to regain his wavering voice. "I'm sor-"

An object forced into his hand stopped him mid sentence, the small round form causing him to look down with a curious frown. His frown turned into surprise when he opened his hand and looked at the handed object – a penny.

"Seto, wha-"

"If you really want to apologise, I'll advise you to play for the bear again."

"Seto, if I didn't get it then, what would me tryin' again make the difference now?" Joey asked softly as he rejected the penny back into Seto's hand, but that question made the CEO narrow his eyes dangerously.

"Do you want my forgiveness or not?" and as an afterthought he added. "And since when did you become a quitter?" that did the trick. With an exasperated huff Joey snatched the coin back, glaring daggers at Seto before cockily strolling past him and back towards the irksome game. Seto gave a knowing smile as he followed after his blonde.

With the exact same concentration as earlier, Joey placed the coin into the slot and dragged the claw over to the pink bear again. Relief went through him when the claw caught the bear's whole body this time, not just the foot. A deep breath and he pressed the button, watching the claw beginning its descent.

Surprise and excitement mixed together pleasantly as the claw held a firm grip on the bear this time, giving him the fair opportunity to choose when he would want the bear drop. As soon as the bear was over the exit hole as Joey wanted, he pressed the release button… and watched as the bear dropped perfectly into the collector's basket.

Joey's jaw almost hit the ground when he saw the pink bear looking at him, this time without glass separating the two of them.

Seto gave a satisfied smile in the background.

"I-I did it… Seto, I did it!" Joey cried triumphantly as he picked up the bear, revelling in the silky soft fur between his fingers – no wonder his sister wanted it so badly. He had to badly fight the urge to hug the stuffed toy.

"I knew you could." Was the last praise Seto gave on the topic as he gave the blond a quick kiss on the head. "Can we go home now?"

"Duh! I can't wait t' give this to my little sis!" without much further the blonde's grin stretched from ear to ear as he studied the adorable toy.

"I'll be right with you, pup. Just have to take care of something first." Joey barely heard him as he began ranting on and on about how it was just a matter of time before he was able to win the bear, that he was the claw-king and more of the sorts.

Seto discreetly reached for his wallet and began counting off the correct amount of hundred dollar bills as he headed back towards the store. The manager was already waiting for him there, his smile broadening at the amount of money that was handed to him.

"Pleasure doing business with you, Mr. Kaiba sir." The man said with an honest bow to which Seto nodded his head.

"Just wait until we're gone before changing the machine back to its original setting." Seto warned before turning to leave, his pup still euphorically oblivious to what was going on as he was still lost in his own little world of pride and joy. "Not that the original setting is fair, though."

Ignoring the man's affronted facial feature, he took his confident, and still ranting, pup around the waist.

"Let's go home, lucky Puppy."

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There you go... my pointless Puppyshipping oneshot ^^ Reviews please!


	2. Trust

Hi guys! Yeah, been a while since I updated I know. Going away from today till the 18th of August, so... I won't be able to chat should anyone contact me. I WILL RESUME EVERYTHING WHEN I GET BACK!

Okay... so this one shot... I read it... reread it... read it again... I still have no clue where I got the idea, what made me wrote it or why the heck I'm placing it. Maybe deep, very deep inside myself I think it's good. I don't know. Lol. I don't even really play these types of PC games. Funny how your brain works?

I find this one kinda... angsty. AND USUALLY I DON'T WRITE ANGST. So this is... extremely weird for me XDD. I don't even know if I succeeded. Lol, let me know, kay?

Thank you for all the lovely reviews. It's an honour to have them all!

On with the one-shot!

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**TRUST**

**RATED K+**

"It's impossible, Seto! I'm going to be ripped apart!"

"Relax. You will not. Trust me."

Joey groaned and tried focusing his eyes; fighting desperately to concentrate on the task at hand, to do as he was told… to no avail. He didn't want to openly distrust his Seto, but he just couldn't see how this was going to work, even _with_ Seto's confident reassurance.

Finally deciding he should at least try, he took another deep breath and motioned forward again, but when push came to shove he faltered and completely retreated back to safety.

"I CAN'T DO IT, SETO! THERE IS NO WAY IT WILL WORK!"

"FINE!" with that one bark Seto got up from the office chair next to Joey's, briskly heading out the door and slammed it shut behind him, leaving Joey behind in the ugly silence. He couldn't help but shudder as the icy vibes the CEO left behind penetrated his very soul to deliver its accusing message of "very disappointed in you" as clear as daylight.

He gave a disheartened groan before returning his honey brown eyes to the monitor screen; the armoured character on it was still waiting for the next command from his master. It was swaying slightly as it was programmed to do, giving the illusion that it was breathing. For a few minutes the soldier patiently stared at the large, electrified gate a mere few feet ahead, still continuing it's never ending swaying motion.

Joey's been playing this online game for about a week now, without dying even once mind you, and he wanted to keep the record. Dying in this particular game meant starting over from the very first level, something he honestly didn't want to experience as he was already on level 23, the last level.

This was all Seto's fault!

It was _he_ who had introduced him to this time consuming, brutal brainwashing, addicting game and now Joey was sucked in too deep with no way out. Sucked in so far in fact, that he'd rather start a fight with the person he loved than risk dying in the virtual world.

Still, the fact remained – HE DIDN'T WANT TO DIE! Sure Seto guided him through a lot of the game, even saved his butt a few times, even made him pick up these weird things along the way that he had no idea what for. But right now, he wasn't sure if Seto's advice was all that good; who places a metal key into a ridiculously high voltage fence? It didn't make sense! He was going to be burned to a crisp, but Seto wanted him to trust him?

Joey sat back in the comfy chair with a discontented grunt. Usually, when no one was watching like now, he would be twirling around in it until slightly dizzy, but right now that was the last thing he felt like doing. He was thrilled when Seto silently offered the chair to him in the first place, but right now he would gladly get out of it if it would calm the seething CEO.

Yet he couldn't trust him with a damned virtual person.

No, it went way further than that. He couldn't trust Seto with almost anything in his life; his past, his secrets, his pain and hurt... not even his whole heart. And him refusing to listen just proved his distrust in Seto once again. He loved Seto, but trust – that was an entirely different situation.

He raked is fingers through his sunflower-coloured hair, but felt more like pulling them out than anything else. Seto never gave him any reason not to trust him, but he still couldn't give the trust that Seto proved worthy of numerous times. It was starting to really piss the stoic man off, Joey knew it.

But he couldn't trust him just yet. He _couldn't_. No, that's a lie. It's more like he _wouldn't_. Trust meant opening up to someone, opening up meant putting yourself at risk for potential heartbreak.

Did he really want to give someone the power to cut out his heart and step on it as his parents did? Did he really want to go through that again?

As Joey pondered with his inner turmoil for minutes on end, he never noticed the door opening, letting through a visibly calmer Seto Kaiba before quietly shutting again. The male was sending more relaxed vibes into the room, gaze tracing over the puppy's dejected facial features.

Seto stopped the sigh that wanted to escape his lips at Joey's miserable expression. He knew the boy had trust issues, he had suffered with it himself until a few weeks ago when he met his honey-eyed love. He just wish Joey would look inside himself and find the courage to break the hold it had on him, just as he, Seto, had done.

Only when he began moving closer to the absentminded male did Joey notice his presence. Joey shifted uncomfortably in the chair, his demeanour resembling that of a child who was caught stealing a cookie.

If only this was as simple.

"Seto, I love you. Ya know that right?" Joey's liquid brown eyes melted Kaiba's heart, but he showed nothing of that outwardly. The look of trust that he yearned for not as prominent in the blonde's eyes as he would've wanted; how many more times did he have to prove himself to his puppy?

"Yes, Joey, I know." He took a deep breath, getting his words in order. He vaguely realized he didn't use his usual pet name of "puppy" out loud, but that was trivial right now. "Yet there are times when love alone is not enough."

Joey's eyes widened and his face paled at the words and Seto knew he misunderstood, but he didn't correct him just yet. It was time the blonde got a wakeup call. If this didn't work, then…

"Kaiba, are you breaking up with me?"

"To be able to break up with someone, you needed to have their trust first. Something I never had the privilege to possess." He stated calmly, fighting the bitterness that wanted to break through. Joey, however, caught up on the supressed bitterness and swallowed hard on the lump in his throat.

"I don't think I'm able to trust, Kaiba." Joey hanged his head, fighting back the tears that stung in his eyes. "People are difficult to trust. Ya never know when they're goin' to let you down."

"No, Joey, you have the wrong idea of what trust in a relationship is." This made Joey's head jerk up, the surprised eyes encouraging Kaiba to explain, so the taller male did just that. "Trust isn't just about sharing secrets, love and desires - it's so much more. Trusting your partner actually proves your trust in yourself."

"Huh?" Joey blinked a few times, the wheels in his head spinning, so Kaiba moved forward and took a seat next to Joey again, causing their knees to brush lightly as he leaned forward to Joey's face. He knew he had to get through to Joey somehow. His actions alone weren't enough, so maybe pushing the blonde manually was a better option. He hoped.

"Trusting someone who already proved themselves worthy means you believe you are strong enough to come out alright on the other side, even if they break your heart." Kaiba's eyes intensified, staring at the shocked light that went up in his puppies eyes. "Believe me, Joey, I know. I know how hard it is and I know it doesn't change overnight, but at least give me the same chance that I bestowed upon you?" when Joey didn't answer he pointed to the computer screen. "Let that be the first step?"

Who knew a role playing game could become so complicated… and handy.

Kaiba's words made Joey's head spin so badly that he averted his eyes in order to process them. He never thought about it in the light as the older male explained it, but nonetheless, found it was true. Trusting your partner, the one _you_ chose to share yourself with, meant you know you were strong enough to get out on the other side intact.

Was he? Was he strong enough?

Kaiba kept his movements minimal as he watched his puppy, not sure what the pretty blonde would do – this talk will either make them, or break them.

He gave his full attention to Joey when the blonde's eyes returned to his, shimmering a little. Keeping his expression stoic, he just watched with a frantic heart as Joey took his hands into his, squeezing them gently. The usually cheery, open expression now only bore a teary smile and Kaiba's heart almost stopped – was Joey saying goodbye?

He was about to say something when he noticed Joey's right hand reaching for the controls, urging the man on the screen to walk towards the electrified gate. He hushed up; keeping still as possible while watching Joey's every move.

Without even a second thought, he noticed Joey's hand moving towards the control that will allow the figure to place the key inside the gate… and pressed it confidently.

_Confidently_.

That one little move said more than a thousand words were able to.

Both felt the deeper meaning of the key as it went in and turned, unlocking the door to safety. To them, this was more than just the door opening, this was the opening start of trust, a glance of the impending new beginning, even though they would never tell anyone their story as no one will understand.

The virtual gate opened, the electricity short-circuited and the figure moved in on its own, into the base of safety. The figure wasn't "fried" as Joey put it once, the figure was simply… home.

A victory song and words of congratulations were strewn around along with the mentions of "new high score", but Joey didn't even notice as his eyes were glued to Seto's earnest face. The man didn't throw something like "I-told-you-so" at him as he thought he would, he didn't give a smirk or some snide remark. Their usual bickering frozen solid. Seto was only watching… waiting.

"Seto… I…"

"The game resembled us, somehow."

"What?"

Seto shifted closer towards Joey, taking both trembling hands in his larger, warm ones. This was difficult for him as he was never one for having to gently convince anyone of anything; his intimidating personality usually took care of that, but for Joey… he'll try.

"Each time I told you to pick something up, I did that with a reason. See, on their own, each particle was nothing. But combined, they made a powerful force field that protected the character from anything. You can only get one piece on each level, so if you haven't done that you would've had to start over." Joey kept motionless, listening intently at Kaiba's words.

"Now, if you missed just one single piece, you would not have been able to create the force field, and you would not have been able to prevail." he squeezed Joey's hands tighter, pulling him closer as his intense blue eyes rendered Joey speechless. "Our relationship resembles said force field, Joey. We need _each_ piece, too. We're still on the first level, love being the first piece. I believe the next piece is trust. I don't care how long we stay on level 2; just enable us to make progress on it?"

Joey stared unblinking at the man he never knew could be this talkative, let alone gentle, still unable to do anything as wave after wave of revelation coursed through him. He understood now. He got it now. He wanted more, now.

On a whim he got up from the comfy office chair in favour of Kaiba's lap. This surprised the brunette, but nevertheless, he welcomed it, shifting into a position that would make it comfortable for both of them as he instinctively wrapped his arms around Joey.

Confidently, Joey wrapped his arms around Seto's neck, inching closer to his face until their cool lips met. It was chaste, one filled with the fears both still had, setting it free between the two of them for no one else to see - giving the promise that both will give this relationship their all.

They broke apart quite a few minutes later, Joey resting his head on his partner's shoulder, sighing contentedly as Kaiba traced circles on his back, gently dragging the nails over the T-shirt covered skin.

"How do you find level two so far?" Kaiba asked after a long silence. Joey chuckled and only cuddled deeper in the warm comfort of Seto's body.

"I think I see level 3 on the horizon."

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If you ended up reading this line, THANK YOU FOR READING MY STORY. Review please!


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